March 1, 2018 – Energy storage experts from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the U.S. recently joined forces with their international counterparts to forge a new organization called the International Coalition for Energy Storage & Innovation (ICESI).

According to PNNL, the meeting of nearly 300 energy storage leaders at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (China) formalized ICESI’s role, which is “to connect the international research community with industry to address long-term challenges for developing and deploying energy storage technologies for the grid”.

“As part of a scientific force that focuses on development of important energy storage solutions for industry, we understand that the need for such technologies goes beyond U.S. borders,” said Wei Wang, a senior PNNL scientist. “We knew an organization like ICESI is critical to bring the minds of the international energy storage community together to solve challenges impacting many countries.”

ICESI has formed committees that will address specific challenges around energy storage assessment, lithium-ion batteries, redox flow batteries, and long-term research and emerging technologies. The coalition will also assess specific markets and technologies, as well as produce annual reports summarizing their progress.

The second annual ICESI meeting is expected to take place in early 2019.

PHOTO: PNNL battery expert, Jun Liu, took on the role of ICESI chair during the inaugural meeting in China (January 2018), with the goal of connecting the international battery research community. Photo courtesy PNNL.